Post by roofed! on Oct 7, 2004 1:29:19 GMT -5
From Cathy Nelson:
[ftp]http://www.pac-10.org/sports/w-volley/nelson-index.html[/ftp]
October 6, 2004
THE LAST TIME…………
The last time Cal beat Stanford in Palo Alto was……… November 15,1979.
Cal came very close on Friday night, but once again Stanford prevailed at home. What a great volleyball match, and a perfect example of Pac-10 volleyball at it’s finest. The widest margin for any game victory was 3 points, and both teams battled back from deficits, made big plays and fought their way to a game 5 pressure cooker that eventually went Stanford’s way.
One of the most impressive things about this match was the fact that, between both teams, only four seniors stepped on the floor, and both teams relied on freshmen to lead them. In fact, Stanford starts two freshmen – setter Bryn Kehoe and middle Franci Girard, both of whom had big nights in their first “Big Game”. Kehoe had 60 assists, 15 digs and 7 blocks, while Girard had a career-high 13 kills to go with her 6 blocks. Cal was led by freshman outside hitter Angie Pressey with 18 kills, while sophomore setter Samantha Carter had 65 assists and 14 digs and fellow sophomore libero Jillian Davis recorded a new Cal record with 33 digs in the match.
When it came down to getting the win, however, it was up to the star seniors to provide the big plays, and the reason why Stanford won this match is that Ogonna Nnamani came up big. In game five Nnamani had 6 kills, none more important than her kill at 13-13 to give Stanford the important 14th point and match point, which they would convert for the win. Nnamani finished the match with 28 kills, her second highest output this year.
Cal, on the other hand, has found something it lacked the past two seasons when Mia Jerkov was in the lineup – balance. The Golden Bears had five players with double figure kills on the night, something they never accomplished last year. Offensive balance was one of the keys to USC’s success the past two years, and could really help Cal have success this season without Jerkov. They will find out if they can beat USC at their own game this weekend, as the tough visit to Los Angeles awaits them.
The last time Arizona began the Pac-10 season 0-4 was………...last year.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats losing early in conference play is nothing new, as this team surely remembers the start of the 2003 conference slate. Last season began with Arizona’s worst ever Pac-10 start when it lost the first five matches of the conference season, then rebounded to finish 10-8 and tied for 5th in the conference standings.
Arizona’s slow start can be attributed to a number of things. First, the Pac-10 schedule has been brutal. All four of their matches have been against ranked teams--at #14 Stanford and #17 Cal, followed by home matches against #10 UCLA and #2 USC. As if that is not enough, Arizona has not settled on a lineup this season, starting five different lineups in the past five weeks. Part of that is due to the shoulder injury to Kim Glass that sidelined her for the entire preseason and illness to Meghan Cumpston that held her out of their final preseason tournament and limited her time against Cal and Stanford.
The Wildcats revolve around Glass, and that shoulder injury did more than change lineups – it has slowed her game down as well. She is clearly not yet the same player she was a year ago, and statistically she is well below her numbers from last season. Last season’s stellar 5.6 kills per game and 6.44 points per game have become 4.2 kills and 5.0 points – still good numbers, but not what she is capable of. She has only played in four matches, however, and while other players were working into the season versus lesser opponents, Glass has only played teams ranked in the top 20.
“It is obvious we are not playing very well,” Head Coach David Rubio said. “There is a lack of continuity and it is creating no fluidity in the offense. We have no rhythm.” Perhaps rhythm will be restored when the Wildcats visit Oregon and Oregon State this weekend – schools that coach Rubio has a combined 42-6 record against.
The last time Oregon won back-to-back Pac-10 matches was……… 1991.
The Ducks ended their streak of 26 consecutive Pac-10 losses Saturday at Washington State, and now have a legitimate opportunity to get another win when they host winless Arizona State Friday night. The Ducks can end another streak with a victory over the Sun Devils – they have not won a home Pac-10 match since 2000, Carl Ferreira’s first year as Oregon’s coach.
The Ducks needed to see who would step up and fill the void left by injured senior Lauren Westendorf, and the answer came in the form of 6’3” sophomore outside hitter Sarah Mason. Mason tied a career high with 19 kills and her always-evident enthusiasm was big for the Ducks. Sophomore setter Heather Madison collected 9 kills on the night – second on the team and double her previous career high.
Oregon’s roster is loaded with sophomores, and they may be gaining the one thing they have lacked in the past – the confidence to win in the Pac-10. If they can get a win over Arizona State they will have more wins in the first four matches of this season then they have had the past 3 seasons combined.
The last time Oregon State had two Pac-10 wins this early was………2001.
2001 is a good year for the Beavers to emulate, as they finished with 10 conference wins, the second most ever for the program and the most since 1990. It was also the last time they made the NCAA tournament, a feat they would love to accomplish again. What a difference a year makes for the Beavers, who began last year with four consecutive losses thanks to starting conference play against Cal, Stanford, USC and UCLA. The schedule worked out a little better this year for OSU, and it has taken advantage by getting early wins against Oregon and Washington State. This weekend the winless Arizona schools come to town, and Oregon State knows they have an opportunity to secure two more wins and the best conference start in program history.
Oregon State is having success doing what they do best – playing a fast, scrappy game and getting teams out of their rhythm. The Beavers are not big at the net – they are last in the conference in blocking – but use their speed to create offensive openings that have them a respectable 5th in kills and 4th in hitting percentage. The also have good balance within their offense, with five players averaging over 2.0 kills per game. In order to beat the Arizona schools this weekend they will need to play a low error game and frustrate their opponents by digging lots of balls and serving tough. This seems to be a motivated team, especially after finishing one game away from a winning record and a possible NCAA berth a year ago. What did they learn from last year? That every match is important, and you need to win the one’s you can win. They have two this weekend that could very much determine if they will play in the postseason or once again be on the outside looking in.
The last time two Pac-10 teams were ranked #1 and #2 was …..Nov. 11, 2002.
Stanford was ranked No. 1 and USC was ranked No. 2, and a month later those two teams played for the national championship, won by USC. That was the third time in the 2002 season Stanford and USC were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. Now Washington holds the No. 1 spot for the first time in school history and USC is No. 2 after beginning the season as No. 1.
Washington is one of four unbeaten teams in Division I volleyball, sharing that distinction with Ohio State (14-0), who defeated previous No. 1 Minnesota last weekend to open the way for the Huskies, Texas (13-0) and Hawaii (12-0). Washington hosts WSU this weekend, a match the Huskies should control and keep them undefeated and No. 1. USC, however, hosts Stanford Friday night, the last team before Washington to defeat them at home. That is your FSN match of the week, and should be another great example of Pac-10 volleyball at it’s best.
[ftp]http://www.pac-10.org/sports/w-volley/nelson-index.html[/ftp]
October 6, 2004
THE LAST TIME…………
The last time Cal beat Stanford in Palo Alto was……… November 15,1979.
Cal came very close on Friday night, but once again Stanford prevailed at home. What a great volleyball match, and a perfect example of Pac-10 volleyball at it’s finest. The widest margin for any game victory was 3 points, and both teams battled back from deficits, made big plays and fought their way to a game 5 pressure cooker that eventually went Stanford’s way.
One of the most impressive things about this match was the fact that, between both teams, only four seniors stepped on the floor, and both teams relied on freshmen to lead them. In fact, Stanford starts two freshmen – setter Bryn Kehoe and middle Franci Girard, both of whom had big nights in their first “Big Game”. Kehoe had 60 assists, 15 digs and 7 blocks, while Girard had a career-high 13 kills to go with her 6 blocks. Cal was led by freshman outside hitter Angie Pressey with 18 kills, while sophomore setter Samantha Carter had 65 assists and 14 digs and fellow sophomore libero Jillian Davis recorded a new Cal record with 33 digs in the match.
When it came down to getting the win, however, it was up to the star seniors to provide the big plays, and the reason why Stanford won this match is that Ogonna Nnamani came up big. In game five Nnamani had 6 kills, none more important than her kill at 13-13 to give Stanford the important 14th point and match point, which they would convert for the win. Nnamani finished the match with 28 kills, her second highest output this year.
Cal, on the other hand, has found something it lacked the past two seasons when Mia Jerkov was in the lineup – balance. The Golden Bears had five players with double figure kills on the night, something they never accomplished last year. Offensive balance was one of the keys to USC’s success the past two years, and could really help Cal have success this season without Jerkov. They will find out if they can beat USC at their own game this weekend, as the tough visit to Los Angeles awaits them.
The last time Arizona began the Pac-10 season 0-4 was………...last year.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats losing early in conference play is nothing new, as this team surely remembers the start of the 2003 conference slate. Last season began with Arizona’s worst ever Pac-10 start when it lost the first five matches of the conference season, then rebounded to finish 10-8 and tied for 5th in the conference standings.
Arizona’s slow start can be attributed to a number of things. First, the Pac-10 schedule has been brutal. All four of their matches have been against ranked teams--at #14 Stanford and #17 Cal, followed by home matches against #10 UCLA and #2 USC. As if that is not enough, Arizona has not settled on a lineup this season, starting five different lineups in the past five weeks. Part of that is due to the shoulder injury to Kim Glass that sidelined her for the entire preseason and illness to Meghan Cumpston that held her out of their final preseason tournament and limited her time against Cal and Stanford.
The Wildcats revolve around Glass, and that shoulder injury did more than change lineups – it has slowed her game down as well. She is clearly not yet the same player she was a year ago, and statistically she is well below her numbers from last season. Last season’s stellar 5.6 kills per game and 6.44 points per game have become 4.2 kills and 5.0 points – still good numbers, but not what she is capable of. She has only played in four matches, however, and while other players were working into the season versus lesser opponents, Glass has only played teams ranked in the top 20.
“It is obvious we are not playing very well,” Head Coach David Rubio said. “There is a lack of continuity and it is creating no fluidity in the offense. We have no rhythm.” Perhaps rhythm will be restored when the Wildcats visit Oregon and Oregon State this weekend – schools that coach Rubio has a combined 42-6 record against.
The last time Oregon won back-to-back Pac-10 matches was……… 1991.
The Ducks ended their streak of 26 consecutive Pac-10 losses Saturday at Washington State, and now have a legitimate opportunity to get another win when they host winless Arizona State Friday night. The Ducks can end another streak with a victory over the Sun Devils – they have not won a home Pac-10 match since 2000, Carl Ferreira’s first year as Oregon’s coach.
The Ducks needed to see who would step up and fill the void left by injured senior Lauren Westendorf, and the answer came in the form of 6’3” sophomore outside hitter Sarah Mason. Mason tied a career high with 19 kills and her always-evident enthusiasm was big for the Ducks. Sophomore setter Heather Madison collected 9 kills on the night – second on the team and double her previous career high.
Oregon’s roster is loaded with sophomores, and they may be gaining the one thing they have lacked in the past – the confidence to win in the Pac-10. If they can get a win over Arizona State they will have more wins in the first four matches of this season then they have had the past 3 seasons combined.
The last time Oregon State had two Pac-10 wins this early was………2001.
2001 is a good year for the Beavers to emulate, as they finished with 10 conference wins, the second most ever for the program and the most since 1990. It was also the last time they made the NCAA tournament, a feat they would love to accomplish again. What a difference a year makes for the Beavers, who began last year with four consecutive losses thanks to starting conference play against Cal, Stanford, USC and UCLA. The schedule worked out a little better this year for OSU, and it has taken advantage by getting early wins against Oregon and Washington State. This weekend the winless Arizona schools come to town, and Oregon State knows they have an opportunity to secure two more wins and the best conference start in program history.
Oregon State is having success doing what they do best – playing a fast, scrappy game and getting teams out of their rhythm. The Beavers are not big at the net – they are last in the conference in blocking – but use their speed to create offensive openings that have them a respectable 5th in kills and 4th in hitting percentage. The also have good balance within their offense, with five players averaging over 2.0 kills per game. In order to beat the Arizona schools this weekend they will need to play a low error game and frustrate their opponents by digging lots of balls and serving tough. This seems to be a motivated team, especially after finishing one game away from a winning record and a possible NCAA berth a year ago. What did they learn from last year? That every match is important, and you need to win the one’s you can win. They have two this weekend that could very much determine if they will play in the postseason or once again be on the outside looking in.
The last time two Pac-10 teams were ranked #1 and #2 was …..Nov. 11, 2002.
Stanford was ranked No. 1 and USC was ranked No. 2, and a month later those two teams played for the national championship, won by USC. That was the third time in the 2002 season Stanford and USC were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. Now Washington holds the No. 1 spot for the first time in school history and USC is No. 2 after beginning the season as No. 1.
Washington is one of four unbeaten teams in Division I volleyball, sharing that distinction with Ohio State (14-0), who defeated previous No. 1 Minnesota last weekend to open the way for the Huskies, Texas (13-0) and Hawaii (12-0). Washington hosts WSU this weekend, a match the Huskies should control and keep them undefeated and No. 1. USC, however, hosts Stanford Friday night, the last team before Washington to defeat them at home. That is your FSN match of the week, and should be another great example of Pac-10 volleyball at it’s best.